This is a famous example of the temptation (overwhelming
desire?) to conform. This series of experiments conducted in the 1950s placed
one subject in a room full of actors. The person conducting the experiment held
up an image with three numbered lines and asked each person in the room to
identify the longest line. The actors purposely chose the incorrect line in
order to determine whether the subject would answer honestly or simply go along
with the group answer. The results showed that people tend to conform in group
situations.

Everyone knows the tale of "The Emperor's New
Clothes" by Hans Christian Andersen where it took a little child up a
lamppost to point out the inconvenient truth. This can show up in Enterprises
in very insidious ways. “Don’t Rock the boat” or “He’s a loose cannon” and
similar phrases can often be used to implicitly make people conform by
effectively shooting the little boy up the lamppost instead of listening to
him.

Do people in your Enterprise
“go with the flow” rather than speaking out?

Do people in your Enterprise
thank the “little child” or vilify him?

Can you think of examples
where this has happened in the past?

Who were they? What was the
impact? Why do you think they acted in this way?

What needs to change to reduce
the likelihood of it happening in the future?